


all the litter of the seasons

by aghostlywonderland



Category: Hadestown - Mitchell
Genre: :), Adoptive Siblings, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gen, Platonic Relationships, all of the characters are healing, and theres orphydice in the epilogue, hades and persephone fix their marriage too, just so much love ok, look man im really bad at tagging but im trying my best so, mostly fluff but its hadestown and i am who i am as a person, we love that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:33:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 7,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29840193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aghostlywonderland/pseuds/aghostlywonderland
Summary: - but without them, we never really grew.way down below, persephone finds eurydice.the resulting sisterhood ends up helping both of them more than they could've known. slowly, old wounds begin to heal.
Relationships: Eurydice & Persephone (Hadestown), Eurydice/Orpheus (Hadestown), Hades/Persephone (Hadestown)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 19





	1. at least until you make it

**Author's Note:**

> hey hi! this is two months' work; the single longest thing i've ever written in my life. i want to give a massive thank you to my best friend fred who gave me the idea and subsequently put up with me while i worked on it nonstop & to my friend qui who let me talk about it a Lot when i needed to work things out. yall r the best and i love u. nobody knew it was gonna end up this big not even me.
> 
> the work title is from instar by nancy kerr, chapter 1 title is from dylan thomas by better oblivion community center. i'm posting every chapter pretty much at the same time because i feel horrible about the idea of separating them, it was one completed body of writing before it was a set of chapters.
> 
> xx kyla
> 
> you can find me on instagram @ aghostlywonderland .

Hades and Persephone are starting fresh.

He picks her up in September, a good six months of the warm weather. Holds her trembling hand in his own when they step off the train down below. She doesn’t say much. Better to keep her mouth shut than hurt him again. Better to stand there at his side and put on a smile than to scowl at him for six months straight. 

The girl– Eurydice, her name is Eurydice– is at the end of the platform waiting for her. That just about stops her heart. Makes her think about everything with her and Orpheus. Makes her remember her husband’s eyes roaming over the girl’s body and the office door falling shut. She looks back up at him, smile faltering.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

“Yes.”

She looks back at the little shade, wandering closer timidly like she’s worried how Persephone might react. She doesn’t blame Eurydice for anything that happened, of course. Just doesn’t want to see her. At all. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

Still: something in those eyes isn’t letting her just walk away and leave the girl there.

“Lady Persephone?”

“Hey, kiddo.” She drops Hades’ hand to talk to her. “Doin’ okay?”

“I guess.”

“I’m sorry about…” She doesn’t want to finish that sentence.

“Mm. Have you– how… how is he?”

Of course. Poor girl must’ve spent all summer wondering about him. “I don’t know. I… we haven’t- we haven’t seen him in a while.”

Boy disappeared after not even a week. Didn’t leave much behind. Summer was quiet.

“Oh.”

She had the tiniest hint of a smile in her eyes, just the littlest spark of hope, ten seconds ago. Now she just looks like a wounded little bird. Persephone can  _ see _ her heart breaking. 

“I know. I know. I’m really sorry, bubba.” She doesn’t know how to help her. Hades’ foot starts tapping; he’s getting impatient. She pats Eurydice’s cheek sympathetically (awkwardly) and heads home after him. 


	2. the more that you say, the less i know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which an unexpected meeting leads to a tentative renewed friendship.

She’s sitting in the bedroom window, hours later, thinking about Eurydice. Glass in her hand can’t stop her mind playing their conversation over and over. She’d barely managed to make herself sound warm. Why the  _ hell _ did she want to be cold in the first place? Now, that… that she has managed to forget.

What she’s also managed to forget, for a moment, is that Hades is talking to her. Must have been about two minutes since she even heard a single word he said, and longer since she understood. Something about changes he’s made down here. At least he’s trying.

_ He _ ’s trying. And her? She’s ignoring that he’s even there. Can’t sit there in that mess. She pulls her boots on and tells him she’ll be back soon.

She doesn’t know where she’s going. She doesn’t care. She can’t face the energy in the speakeasy right now; nor the reminder of how much he’s done, and how she’s given him fucking  _ nothing _ in return. She could go find  _ her _ , talk for a bit, but she can’t stomach the thought. It doesn’t matter, she decides, as long as she’s up on her feet and moving, it’ll take her mind off things.

As always, the Fates have other plans. Plans that involve Eurydice’s eye for a hiding place being just as keen as Persephone’s own. She wanders into an old spot of hers, only to find the girl already sitting at the table with a pencil and a little notebook that she slams closed when she hears footsteps, head snapping up to see who’s there. It’s a little confronting.

“Hey,” Persephone breathes, trying to ease the both of them at the same time. “Do you– am I– is– am I interrupting?” It’s not a real question, she’s already more than aware that if someone’s hidden away out here she doesn’t want to be found. She’ll just go somewhere else. No harm done.

“No– no, stay. Come sit. Please?”

She must have known about this place, a little alcove between the wall and the back of a factory, a while: it’s not how it was last winter when she left it. “You’ve, um, done some decorating.”

Decorating is, of course, a strong word for moving the table and chairs where they sit from one side to the other, pinning a couple of trinkets to the walls and shoving a bright red flower, long dead but never wilted, stem-first into the ground. Best she can do ‘round here, really.

“I… this is yours?”

“We all need somewhere, sister.”

“Sorry.”

“No, I don’t mind.”

They sit there in a heavy silence. Eurydice opens her notebook. She’s drawing. Persephone doesn’t look at the page. Wouldn’t be polite to.

“We missed you down here. In the summer.”

“Mm.”

“It’s all different now.”

“He told me.”

“Oh.”

“You’re happy?”

She doesn’t answer for a second. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes it does, kid.”

Eurydice doesn’t respond, looking away guiltily. Persephone puts her hand on the table, and when Eurydice takes it they hold on tight to each other. “How do we make you feel okay?” Persephone asks carefully, knowing that  _ happy _ would be too much to expect of her. 

Still she startles at the question and thinks on it for a long while. She looks… distant, and somehow so much older than when they met.

“I don’t know,” she answers finally. Her face is solemn, sincere. 

“Okay, bubba. That’s alright.”

More silence, broken suddenly by Eurydice sobbing.

“Hey- hey, what is it?” It’s alarming to see her cry, someone she’s always seen as so stoic and unaffected. Her  _ friend _ . She crosses the couple paces between them and pulls Eurydice up to her feet and into her arms, overcome by the need to protect her but not knowing how.

“I’m sorry, I don’t,” she stutters, “I don’t know, I just…”

“I know. I know. You’ll be okay.”

She holds the kid tight against her chest, letting her cry into her shoulder without a second thought until Eurydice’s good and ready to let go. To be honest, by that point she’s probably shed just as many tears of her own.

“Better now, bubs?”

“Yeah,” she chuckles. “I think so. And you?”

She nods, wiping a stray tear. 

“Thank you.”

“Any time, sister.”

She pulls out her flask and takes a swig, looking to calm her ragged breathing and shake all the thoughts that have started to fill her mind until it’s far too loud for her tastes. Offers it to Eurydice. The girl declines. Drinks again before she puts it away. 

“So, um. I’d best be going.”

“Yeah, my– my shift probably starts soon.”

They don’t touch each other in saying goodbye, just nod and wave. Maybe they feel like they’ve done too much of that. She’s not sure what it is; either way, wouldn’t be right. 

She walks home real slow to Hades. Apologises for leaving. Kisses his cheek and lays down beside him, asks him to tell her about what he’s been doing all summer. Falls asleep after ten minutes, sure; but that’s the way it goes. Hopefully he knows she’s trying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you're liking it so far! if you are, let me know - it'd make my day.  
> the chapter title is from willow by taylor swift  
> you can find me on instagram @ aghostlywonderland and occasionally on tumblr with the same username.  
> xx kyla


	3. she was a rare thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- and you wouldn't want me any other way.
> 
> in which the bonds between persephone and eurydice start to strengthen.

She sees her again the next day, and the one after, getting drunk together and dancing around the speakeasy with everyone else until they’re almost too tired to walk. Their little meetings become a daily routine where they find each other in their spot by the wall and just talk about all that’s in their mind. Memories, dreams, thoughts and feelings, things that hurt within or warm their hearts or both.

Sometimes they walk, just go wherever their bodies carry them: the other end of town or the asphodel fields or the banks of the river. Other times they just sit there and Eurydice draws in her notebook. She shows Persephone when she finishes something. Mostly she draws Orpheus. Little scenes, the memory of him: playing on Hermes’ stage, sitting deep in thought, polishing shoes, holding a flower ripped and folded out of newspaper.

When Eurydice finds it hard to talk, Persephone braids her hair. When she has the same problem herself, she just gets her flask out. The look in Eurydice’s eyes when she does reminds her of Hades. The silent concern and questioning. She understands it too much to hate it. She hates it too much to stop ignoring it. They end up at the bar half the time anyways, all the grief and fear and bittersweetness of their conversation dissolving into the heat of the crowd and their tipsy haze. Reminds her of when they met. Kid’s gotten that same bright energy back since last winter. 

The time she spends with Eurydice is a comfort that’s been so hard to come by, especially down here, for so long. Deep in her heart she both hopes the girl feels anything close to the same, and knows that she so clearly does. It feels good to be needed- wanted- by someone, to have a little charge to look after and guide. Makes her wanna be better than she is, to be more like what Eurydice deserves, to stop her from giving her  _ that _ look. Maybe that’s silly. Maybe it’s not possible. Maybe she’s getting too attached. Doesn’t stop her thinking about it.

When she’s not with Eurydice, she spends time with her husband. They wander around arm-in-arm, packing lunch to eat together in the farthest corners. She remembers how sweet he can be, and the way he used to make her laugh. She remembers how much she loves him. She wants to go back to how they used to be.

“It’s nice,” Eurydice says, half to herself, sometime in November on the weekend – something they get now, and if that’s not proof of him trying she doesn’t know what is – “seeing you two together.”

What is she supposed to say to that? What name is there for the feeling that’s just struck her through the heart?

“That’s what I think, too,” she simply says, with a wry grin that makes them both laugh. They’re sitting up against each other, Eurydice leaning on Persephone’s arm, out by the river bank, a half-empty glass each in hand. She’s struck again by how much she  _ misses _ him, misses her husband, misses centuries ago when they never fought, never left each other’s side when she was down below.

_ When there wasn’t another girl all tangled up in your marriage? _ suggests a voice in the back of her mind. She jumps away from Eurydice almost unconsciously.

“You alright?”

“Yeah. Yeah, darlin’, fine. I just— remembered I gotta go home. I’ll see you ‘round, okay?”

She walks home as fast as she can go, feeling like her lungs are closing up, and locks herself in their bedroom for an hour. Just trying to stop thinking about Hades and Eurydice. Her liar of a husband and her dear little friend. For a minute she needs to stop herself from blaming the child for something not her fault. For a while, she wonders what it was she did that finally broke him. She cries silently until it aches.

When he finds her, she doesn’t speak of it. If there’s something he wants to know he doesn’t ask; if there’s something he wants to say he doesn’t say it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you're enjoying it! imho this is the last of the boring chapters it only gets better from here
> 
> the chapter title is from beeswing by grace petrie, the work title is from instar by nancy kerr.
> 
> you can find me on instagram @ aghostlywonderland   
> xx kyla


	4. it's a wild wild one, you better hold on tight (to me)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- hold on honey, gonna figure it out somehow.
> 
> in which time passes, and persephone makes an important decision.

On the first day of Spring, Eurydice sees her off from the station.

“Have a good summer, bubba,” she murmurs into her hair, hugging her tight and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.

“You too. And if—”

“I will.” Somehow she doubts that she’ll see him, but this ain’t the time for breaking her heart.

It dawns on her, in her brother’s bar surrounded by old friends, that she loves Eurydice. Not in the way she loves Hades or the girl loves her poet, no. More like the love she has for Hermes, or perhaps her mother, but different again, more protective. Something akin to her littlest siblings, although she’s never been all that close to any of them. Stronger than that, but all the same, and ain’t that the strangest thing? Seeing her as  _ family _ . Not all that different, she reasons, than Hermes and Orpheus, although she knows that was more like her brother just adopting the boy. 

Whatever it is her heart’s decided, her head decides she needs to do it right. Look out for her properly. Damn conscience. 

So when Hades brings her back come September, her head is clearer than it’s been in centuries, and she’s feeling okay. Not quite good, but okay.

Eurydice runs and jumps straight into her arms practically before she’s even set foot on the platform.

“Hey, bubba!” She puts her down gently. “Missed me?”

“Only a little,” she teases. 

“Oh, well in  _ that _ case you didn’t cross my mind a single time.”

They stare each other down for nothing more than five seconds before Persephone sighs  _ come here _ and pulls her back in. “I missed you so much.”

“Me too.”

They see each other less this year, not because they don’t want to, but because Persephone is spending more time with Hades, sitting in his office and helping with his work. He’s thrown himself right back in, and someone’s gotta keep him in check. Still, she makes enough time to meet her every other day or so and sees that Eurydice’s wounds are starting to close just a little. She’s calmer, has a little more energy, settled in more, talks more easily about the surface and everything she’s clearly filed away in a mental box marked ‘before’. And sure, she doesn’t say much about Orpheus, not with her words, and sure, she still doesn’t quite look  _ happy _ as such when Persephone sees her at a glance, but she’s clearly doing better.

“Haven’t seen you in the bar,” Eurydice points out one day, a few weeks in, across the cheese board they’re sharing — Persephone’s grand idea.

“I’m gettin’ clean,” she says, quiet, like it’ll shatter what success she’s had. Eurydice reaches across the table to hold her hand.

“That’s good,” she murmurs. “I’m glad.” Few words, but that’s her. Persephone can see how much she means it by the look in those eyes. 

“I’m so glad I’ve got you, kiddo.”

“M– what?”

“You heard me.”

It’s weightier than she means for it to be. Minutes pass. They don’t look at each other.

“Need fruit with this,” Persephone says, trying gracelessly to change the subject. “Not as good without.”

Eurydice just nods, gnawing at a cracker.

“Maybe I’ll bring something down next time.”

“That’d be nice.”

She does.

Three years later, trees grow and bloom in Hadestown, and when she arrives Eurydice bounds up and places an orange in her hand, giving a mischievous giggle and running away before Persephone can even say hello.

“This…?”

He nods, giddy smiles growing across both of their faces.

“Hades!” she laughs, awestruck, throwing her arms around him. Nothing’s grown in here for so long.

“I thought you’d like it.”

“I love it. I– I love  _ you _ , this is…”

Of course, that gets the old man all choked up, ‘cause she hasn’t told him in forever. Doubts that Orpheus and Eurydice were even born by then. She kisses him soft,  _ soft _ , on the mouth, and he carries her home in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't ask me how anything works in this version of the underworld because i do not care. i have done what i want to do and that's everyone else's problem now.
> 
> chapter title is from head over heels by the maes
> 
> xx kyla


	5. i couldn't bring it back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- but i tried
> 
> in which they discover something scary, and eurydice looks to persephone for comfort.

It’s a couple days before she sees Eurydice again, and the girl shows up in a soft yellow outfit that Persephone saw only a glimpse of at the train station.

“You’ve got new clothes.”

“I  _ made _ new clothes,” she corrects. No further explanation, but she did see a few others who weren’t wearing uniform. Hades hasn’t told her about this particular development. Sweet of him.

She says this thought aloud. Eurydice nods, kicking at the floor. “Hey, you should come to mine,” she suggests. “Y’know, just to see. It’s kinda pretty around there.”

“I… don’t know if–”

Eurydice puts on a teasing smile. “Come  _ on _ , what’s the worst that could happen?” She sets off running before she can get an answer. Gods, she’s got so much energy.

“Okay, okay! But wait, wait for me!”

They walk side-by-side at – mercifully – a much more reasonable pace, Eurydice pointing out all the things she likes. It feels like a livable place now, and the air’s cooler and cleaner than it’s been in a long, long time, and Eurydice looks happy. Properly happy.

Her apartment is nice, on the cosy side of small, with pictures pinned up all over the walls. She’s taken a marker to the plaster as well, drawing ivy leaves snaking all over the cornice. It’s a punch in the gut when she realises they look nothing like the real thing: too much of a dip here, not enough point there, and hanging too far from the vine. She doesn’t mention it.

“Lovely place.”

“Thank you.”

She takes a closer look at one of the pictures, one she vaguely remembers her making. Doesn’t point out that they look less like him each year. 

“Where’d you learn to draw like this, bubs?”

“Around, I guess. I don’t really know. Why?”

“Just wondering.”

Eurydice leans against her back, snaking her arms over the goddess’s shoulders. “I miss him, Seph. I really– I wish… I mean, I don’t blame him, but– I just. I wish we… y’know.”

“I know.”

“I shouldn’t have left.”

“You did what you had to, bubba. Ain’t your fault.” She twists around to pull Eurydice to her chest instead and holds her there.

“Persephone?” she asks after a minute or so, “can you tell me about him?”

“No, I haven’t– Hermes reckons he hasn’t come home at all since—”

“No, no. Before.”

They sit on the bed, pulling the covers around both of their shoulders, and she tells a hundred stories from when he was tiny and when he was growing up. Eurydice has just as many to share in return, of the summer they spent together. 

By the clock beside the door, it’s getting far too late. “I should get going, girlie. Bedtime.”

“Can you– will you stay? I don’t– you don’t have to, but…”

“Yeah, okay. Yeah, y’know what, why not?” 

It’s a bit of a half-baked plan, and they end up lying side by side in her single bed with Persephone barely clothed so she won’t hurt Eurydice with the rough fabric of her dress. Still, it’s fun, the kind of thing to look back on and laugh. Kid’s a good sleeper, it seems, out within ten minutes, unconsciously pressing herself against Persephone like she’s trying to dig a burrow in her chest.

Eurydice’s body is cold, and Seph wraps the sheet a little tighter to keep her warm. Then she realises: her body is  _ cold _ . All over. Oh, oh Gods above. How didn’t she notice before? She feels around her wrist: no, her heart lies as still as the rest of her sleeping body. Mm, and kinda cute, really, like this, got a calm look over her soft face like nothing’s ever bothered her. Somehow that makes it hurt more, the sudden reminder that she’s… the way she is. Tears burn behind Persephone’s eyes, and she cries them as softly as she can.

“Seph?” Eurydice props herself up on her elbows, wide awake with concern written all over her face.

“I’m okay. It’s fine.”

“No, what is it?” She shuffles back a little more to look properly into Persephone’s eyes. Her gaze is intense. Like she’s being studied.

“I just— you, um. Don’t panic? I— you’re cold.”

“I’m… fine, I’m not cold. Why are you so…?”

“No, no, bubba, you’re  _ cold _ . Here, give me.” She takes the girl’s hand and leads it to her cheek, making her feel the warmth there. “See? And then you.” Eurydice touches her own face, right in the same spot.

“Oh. Oh,  _ shit _ . Why –  why is – Sephie, what's– what did he  _ do _ ?” She’s never seen her look so horrified. She forces her own panic down for Eurydice’s sake.

“I don’t know, I only just –  it’s probably just because you’re– because… y’know.”

“I’m…?”

“Well, you’re. You’re down here,” she says. Weakly. Eurydice rubs her eyes. “Oh, come here, sister.” She pulls the pair of them to sit up, putting the girl on her lap where she cries and cries and cries into her neck.

“I just thought it was cold down here,” Eurydice mumbles after a while, laughing almost bitterly. And sure, it’s not as blazing hot as it used to be, but  _ cold  _ still isn’t the right word. “I don’t know. I feel freezing now.”

Persephone puts the covers around her again, followed by as much of her own body as she physically can. That earns her a giggle, at least. “I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I’m so sorry. And I shouldn’t have said anything, I really…”

“I want to sleep now.”

She couldn’t agree more.

They wake up entwined, each refusing to let the other let go. She thinks of up top where the sunrise would be throwing its first gentle light across them. Eurydice’s singular room has no window, and there’d be nothing good to look at if it did. Instead of breeze and birdsong, there’s the squeal of whistles and workers’ chatter. Persephone doesn’t hear all this kind of noise at home. Eurydice seems used to it, lying half-awake in that sleepy state, and whines when Persephone tries to move her arm from between them.

“Sleep okay, my darlin’?”

She smiles, the movement of her eyes leaving butterfly kisses on Persephone’s collarbone. “Yeah. You?”

“Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> any and all of the ""science"" in this fic makes sense in my head ok? ok. anyways i love this chapter i think it is good and i was pretty proud (although also very upset) when i had the idea for it.
> 
> chapter title is from come september by anaïs mitchell.
> 
> u know where u can find me by this point lmao


	6. and finally grey turns into bloom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- isn't it a relief to know?
> 
> in which a confrontation between hades and persephone helps to fix things between them.

She stays with her a while until she has to get ready to work, and wanders around alone for a long while, not getting home until late in the evening. Still, Hades is in his office, looking over some sort of papers at his desk.

“Hey, you.”

“Seph. Forgive me, lover, I didn’t hear you come in.”

She sits in the chair across from him, laying her head on the desk. “Busy?”

“No, just a few things.”

“Why don’t you come to bed, mm?”

He doesn’t answer. “Where were you?”

“With Eurydice, mostly. She was feeling a li’l down yesterday, asked me to stay the night. She’s doin’ better, I think. Misses her boy like anything, but.”

Hades goes quiet, face oddly pensive. “Persephone?”

“Yes?”

“You and her…” he starts, then stops, clearing his throat. “Well, I mean– you just– uh. What’s the… that is to say, what… well. No point in, uh, in beating around the bush.”

“Hades.” She reaches for his hand, sitting up straight to meet those eyes that she so loves. “What is it?”

“Are you pursuing her?”

“Pursuing?” She’s not sure if he’s implying what she thinks he might be.

“Well, you. You spend a lot of time with her. Are you… you know…”

Her face flushes golden, burning hot and angry. If she wasn’t sober, if she wasn’t thinking, if Eurydice hadn’t left her feeling all soft in the heart, if him and her weren’t doing so much better, well. She knows she’d be reaching for a glass and  _ hollering _ at him, because even with how calmly she manages to react, how dare he, how  _ dare _ he even suggest such a thing, and she’s still of a mind to shout at him. Somehow, she doesn’t. “No, Hades. She’s my friend, that’s all. I– she’s like a sister to me, and I love her, but not like that.”

He nods and goes back to his books. She lays her head back down on her hands. “C’mon. I’m tired, lover.”

“I’ll be there soon.”

She doesn’t leave, because something’s crossed her mind that she remembers trying hard to forget.

“Did  _ you _ ?”

“Hm?”

“Go after Eurydice. Did  _ you _ ‘pursue’ her, did you– did you touch her?”

He goes silent again, as if he didn’t hear or doesn’t want to answer. “Tell me, Hades.” She can’t keep from raising her voice, thinking of the things he could’ve done to that poor sweet girl. “Did you put your  _ filthy _ hands on that  _ child _ ?”

“No. No, love. I didn’t.” He’s surprisingly calm for someone whose wife is standing at his desk yelling at him. “I promise, Seph, I never did anything like that with her. Or anyone else. Never.”

That’s what she needed to hear, really. Lets her drop another of the grudges she’s been holding against him for a millennium, and yet, she’s never stopped loving him. Not really.

“Okay. Okay, I’ll… I’m going to bed.”

“No, wait. Ten minutes. Then I’ll be done. Please?”

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i for one am glad i finally got to resolve that. in the first draft of this fic (shorter than half the length of this version), there was barely any hades/persephone content and it became much better when i had added some throughout the other chapters.
> 
> title is from when the sun comes up by all our exes live in texas (a mouthful, i know.) i have no idea if the line is actually "blue" or "bloom" but i also don't care cos i like it better this way.
> 
> seriously just message me on instagram if u wanna i would love to talk to you. i love making friends and im not a very scary person  
> xx kyla


	7. drew stars around my scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- i knew you tried to change the ending.
> 
> in which gifts are exchanged and an old friend visits.

She goes back to the bar the next evening. Tells Eurydice beforehand so they can go together. It’s terrifying, really, she hasn’t even set foot in her brother’s establishment in five years. But she doesn’t touch anything but water all night, and it’s still fun: she meets people she remembers from before it got better, over the moon to see her, and they talk and dance all night.

“Good time?” Eurydice asks her outside.

“Wonderful, darling. The best.”

“Hey, I’m proud of you, yeah?”

She doesn’t say anything back, but her joy sets vines trailing from where she steps, flowers growing all around the pair of them.

On the train at the end of Winter, Hades says it’s good she has a friend. She says she’s sorry. For everything she’s done to hurt him, because she’s too sensible to pretend she hasn’t. He takes her hands in his, kisses the back of each one, and says he is too. That he will be until the end of time. That he wishes they’d never gotten lost like they did.

They take each other in their arms, and promise they’ll keep trying.

Persephone bottles up the sunshine when it’s at its brightest in the summer, keeps it in the prettiest jar she can find. She brings it down with her, some warmth for Eurydice.

Eurydice, who throws her arms around her from behind before either of them get a chance to speak, with a folded sheet of paper clutched in her hand, gesturing for her to take it.

“What’s this?”

“It’s for you, just open it.”

She does, shifting under almost the whole weight of the girl’s body. It’s a pencil drawing, a portrait— a portrait  _ of Persephone _ . It’s wonderful. And Eurydice  _ made _ it, memorised the way she looked in some idle moment between them and immortalised it in the silver strokes of graphite on paper, and ain’t that just the most amazing thing in the world? She’ll frame it when she gets home. Give Eurydice her present tomorrow instead. 

“Do you like it?”

“I love it. C’mere, you.”

* * *

Eurydice’s all wrapped up in Persephone’s snug embrace when Hermes calls out from the other end of the platform.

“There she is!” he yells, jovially, and Eurydice wriggles free to run over to him.

“Mister Hermes!” She stops just in front of him. “It’s good to see you. I miss you.” Still, she can’t wipe the smile from her face. Hasn’t seen him since  _ then _ .

“It’s good to see you too, girl. Ain’t been right there without the pair of you causin’ chaos.”

She laughs, cut short by the reminder of her lover. She misses him. She doesn’t miss him like you miss an old acquaintance, the way she missed Hermes. She misses him like a chipped mug misses that little piece.

“I brought you something,” he continues, unaware of what’s happening in her head. “Close your eyes.”

He lays something soft and light across her open palms. “Okay.”   
One of Orpheus’s bandanas. He’s given her something to remember him by, tangible proof of his existence. Something she gets to keep.

She puts it on her head straight away, tying it under her hair like she would sometimes while she was working with him in the garden, and thanks Hermes in barely a whisper. She hugs him gently in case the tears welling up in her eyes decide to make their escape. Not going to cry so openly. He lets her stay there for a second or two. “A’ight. I gotta go. You take care of her for me, yeah?” he jokes, indicating Persephone.

“I will. Good to see you again.”

“And you.”

Seph’s wandered up to them in the space of their conversation, throwing one arm over Eurydice’s shoulders. “You bein’ a bad influence on this one, brother?”

“Wouldn’t dare dream of it, sister,” he says, feigning being so terribly afraid of her, before he turns to leave.

“I’ll see you around, Hermes.”

“See ya, Sephie. Eurydice.”

Persephone asks if she’s okay. She is, mostly, just feeling a lot of things. But she’ll be alright, and she feels safe knowing someone’s looking out for her.

“I’d best be gettin’ home. Love ya, girlie. This?” She holds up her drawing, folded back in half to protect it. “This is goin’ on my wall.”

Eurydice smiles from ear to ear. “Love ya, Seph. See you soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when i first divided the chapters up this was gonna be two in one, part a and part b, because the perspective shift felt like it needed to be the start of another chapter but they were too short to go alone. i ended up just putting a line in the middle because they're immediately after each other and it felt more natural
> 
> title is from cardigan by everyone's favourite, taylor swift
> 
> i sincerely hope you're enjoying this


	8. hold a perfect thing and not demolish it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- cause i could never...
> 
> in which eurydice and persephone end up taking it in turns to cause problems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's a little bit of physical violence at the start of this chapter, it's not graphic enough that i thought it warranted the archive warning but i thought i'd just let you know here anyway

“Lady Persephone!” A worker she doesn’t really know is running up to her at full tilt. “Lady Persephone!”

“What’s going on?” She catches hold of his hands when he gets close enough.

“Your friend, she’s– she’s in trouble.”

Immediately she has a hundred questions. Panic strikes her heart. “What kind of trouble, what happened?”

“Just come on, quickly!” He runs off towards the barracks, leaving her to run after.

Now, by trouble, she didn’t think he meant anything like this. Maybe she’d gotten hurt or done something wrong and landed herself in hot water. Instead, as they get closer, she sees a small crowd gathering around a man in overalls and a girl in yellow, tiny in comparison to him. She’s strong as anything, Persephone knows, but quite clearly can’t match up to whoever that is. There’s simply no way this is going to end well for her, and that fact is a terrifying one.

She needs to get her out of there.

“Eurydice!”

She turns her head, distracted long enough for him to shove her with both his hands. Shit. Why did she think that was a good idea? Eurydice stumbles backwards and falls, crying out when she hits the hard ground.

“That’s enough,” Seph hears herself declare, without any of the confidence or volume that that would require. “You all have something else you could be doing.”

The crowd doesn’t budge. Eurydice jumps back up. Lunges at him, misses.

“I said  _ go! _ ” Persephone shouts, because she’s their Queen, damn it, and they’ll do as she tells them whether they like it or not. A few of the more cowardly ones turn to leave, followed by more, the whole lot of them dispersing in a matter of thirty seconds or so. The only ones left are the man — Persephone’s seen him before, but never learned his name — and Eurydice, scrambling to her feet once again only for Seph to grab her around her middle and hold her away from him. He’s standing back, possibly a little stunned by the power Persephone’s managed to wield over everyone, possibly considering running away himself.

“Let me go!” she screams, livid. “ _ Let me go! _ ” She bites one of the arms that restrain her and slips free, running at him again to hit him in the stomach– hard, by the looks of it– and duck away when he tries to retaliate.

“Eurydice!” She manages to grab her arm and pull her back again. “Are you okay?”

“Let go of me! Let go, let go! Let… let go… please. Please?” She stops struggling against her, tension slowly dropping from her body, breathing heavy. “I’m okay. Is– is he…?”

“I dare say you got a couple good hits in, songbird.”

She nods, satisfied, and finally gives in to being held.

“You!” Persephone yells at her retreating opponent. “You are on thin fucking ice, you. I better not be hearin’ any more trouble.”

He runs away a little faster. Good.

She turns her attention to Eurydice, stepping back to get a proper look at her. “Are you going to tell me what the  _ hell _ that was about?” 

“It’s fine. It’s nothing. I started it, anyway.”

“And if you had some sense, you wouldn’t have! There’s no way— I can’t  _ believe _ — have you any idea how dangerous that was? How  _ careless? _ You could’ve been  _ seriously  _ hurt, you could’ve got in trouble, you– you– you scared me so much, are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m okay. Hurts where I fell, but it’s fine. Sorry I bit you. And scared you.”

Persephone shakes her head and cleans up a tiny spatter of dried blood on Eurydice’s face, coming from a split in her lip. A single drop stains the neckline of her white shirt; nothing much to be done about that. Kisses her scraped palms and her forehead.

“Will you promise me something?”

“What?”

“Don’t go doin’ that again, baby. Please. You got lucky this time, ‘kay?”

They walk in silence to their place by the wall, sitting in the dirt leaning against the bricks.

“Who was that?”

“Why do you care?”

She tilts her head to get a better look at the bruise forming between where Eurydice’s top ends and her skirt begins. “‘Cause I care about you?” Nasty mark, it is. Must hurt.

“Just someone. It’s not a big deal, okay?”

“I think it  _ is _ a pretty big deal, kiddo.” There’s no way she could have actually  _ lost _ her, of course, but it was terrifying all the same. 

“I don’t care. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Eurydice—”

“I said I don’t want to! Please! I’m tired, and it really hurts, and I want you to find something else to talk about.”

“I just want to know-”

“I don’t  _ care  _ what you want to know, Persephone! I’m going home.”

She gets up and storms away, making it crystal clear not to come with her. Persephone slumps backwards against the wall, feeling completely and entirely terrible.

She’s nowhere near blind enough to think that she was doing the right thing, or that she had a good enough reason for it. It actually didn’t matter, and now she’s gone and hurt the person she wanted to protect. Wishes she could go chase after her and say she’s sorry, but that would probably just make it worse.

She runs home instead, bursting into Hades’ office without even knocking, giving some incoherent attempt at an explanation over and over. He just wraps her up in his arms, encompassing her whole body with his, until she’s feeling a little more steady. 

“What is it, lover?”

“I don’t know what to do.”

She explains– a little easier to understand, this time– and he tells her what she already knows. Needs to go say she’s sorry. She’ll find her tomorrow instead. The kid’s had a bad enough time today. Leave her alone for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can we all just collectively agree that my hand slipped? yeah? yeah.  
> anyways once again i make the rules it works because i decided it does (huge thanks to my friend for weighing in about whether eurydice would bleed because i wasn't entirely sure where i wanted to take that.)
> 
> title is from forever... (is a long time) by halsey


	9. we are not our gravest deeds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- the sweetness of some kind tomorrows
> 
> in which there is forgiveness.

Persephone didn’t exactly plan on spending an entire morning lying in bed feeling sorry for herself. It’s not a productive way to spend any space of time, she knows. She’s only really woken up when Hades knocks on the door, at least an hour and a half after he left her to go to work.

“Persephone?”

“What is it?”

“Your girl’s here to see you.”

She just groans and pulls the pillows over her head. She’s not ready for Eurydice to lecture her, hasn’t even worked out what she’s going to say. “Tell her go away. I’ll see her later.”

“That’s not a good idea.” She already knows. Can’t go pretending she’s the victim here. Doesn’t make it any less scary. She says nothing. “Seph. Come on.” He enters the room to pull the covers off her and take the pillows from her hands, ignoring her whine of protest. “Get dressed. She’s waiting for you in my office.”

By some miracle, she gathers enough willpower to go see her. Through the open door, she can see Eurydice curled in the chair opposite Hades, not talking to him, looking nervous. Why is  _ she _ nervous? Persephone hopes it’s not her fault. She stops in the doorway and the three of them look around at each other silently for a long moment. Eurydice looks like she’s second-guessing herself, wondering if it’s too late to just run away. She’s still wearing her overalls, must’ve come straight from work.

“Hey…”

“Hey.”

She steps across the threshold cautiously. “Do you… maybe wanna talk somewhere else?”

Eurydice nods. Persephone leads her down a long hallway to the bedroom, where they sit face to face at opposite ends of the window seat.

“So… I’m sorry,” she begins.

“Me too.”

“Hey, you have nothing to be sorry for.”

She looks away out the window for a moment, considering. “I still shouldn’t have reacted how I did.”

“That’s not true, bubba. You had every right.  _ I’m _ sorry. It was wrong of me not to listen to you in the first place.”

Eurydice takes a deep breath, glancing away again. “I forgive you.”

She knows Eurydice’s trust is something hard-won. They shuffle in closer to hug each other, relief flooding through Persephone in knowing that this wonderful girl, one of the most precious things life’s ever given her, is giving her another chance.

“Just don’t do it again?”

“I promise.”

Satisfied, Eurydice curls up to her a little tighter. Persephone’s more than happy to let her.

“I missed you,” Eurydice mumbles after a minute or two.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, I just got scared that we wouldn’t… be okay.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” She holds onto her as tight as she can. “We’re alright, aren’t we?”

“We’re alright,” Eurydice echoes, a relieved smile coming over her. She wriggles in impossibly closer, essentially putting herself into Persephone’s lap, head nestled in the crook of her neck. She’s soft. It’s lovely. Seph runs one hand through the ends of her hair, cradling her there on her chest like a baby. 

“Okay, kiddo? You need anything?”

“I’m okay.”

She half-wishes they could just stay here forever, that she wouldn’t ever have to let go. Nobody would ever hurt either of them again.

“Actually, um… could you do my hair? Like you used to?”

“You’ll have to move a little,” she teases. Eurydice sits in front of her, back turned, and Persephone gets started.

* * *

Hades opens the bedroom door after a good day’s work, and is greeted by Eurydice and Persephone lying asleep in the window. Seph’s leaning back against the wall, Eurydice against the glass, half of the girl’s hair in a pretty braid snaking down one side of her head and the other half hanging loose. It’s important, he thinks, and sweet, that his wife’s got such a close friend down here. He knows she’s always gotten lonely in the winters, even before him and her stopped bein’ able to sit in the same room together.

Endeared by the scene, he picks Eurydice up as gently as he can and sets her down lying on the edge of the bed on Persephone’s side. He tries to unzip Seph’s dress without waking her, but she’s conscious for just a few moments, trying to help him, before she drifts off again with her hands holding on tight to him. Pulls her into a long shirt of his that she likes to sleep in, and puts her on the bed beside Eurydice, tucking the pair of them in like two children, guiding a stray lock of the songbird’s hair back behind her ear and kissing his wife’s cheek. Perfect. There’s a joke he could make about  _ bringin’ her into their bed _ , but he figures Persephone wouldn’t find it quite as funny. Just lays down beside them and turns off the light.

In the morning, Eurydice mumbles about being warm, and Persephone jokes that she’ll have to get the kid out of bed by force, and it’s perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look man,,,, hades just loves his wife so much ok
> 
> also when i wrote the second part of this chapter i thought about the meme with the four foot tall mareep. me. my wife. and her five foot tall best friend.
> 
> title is from gingerbread by nancy kerr. next chapter is the last one and more of an epilogue than anything.


	10. epilogue: every rain cloud behind, waits sunshine.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- cause at the end of the storm / darling all you will find / is sunshine.
> 
> in which eurydice is reunited with her orpheus.

Years come and go, six months above and six below, year after year turning to four decades, until the day another Fall begins and she steps off the train to an empty platform.

“Where’d she go?”

“The boy, he, uh… he arrived yesterday.”

Oh.  _ Oh _ . Of course. Okay.

“I let him come to Hadestown,” he continues, “to be with her. They requested it.”

She nods. “Hermes will be upset.”

“I’m told Hermes was the one to bury him.” That hurts a lot. Means he was alone.

“Reckon Eurydice will be sad too. Knowing something’s happened to him.”

“I couldn’t really tell. Are– are  _ you _ okay?”

“Not really, love. But I’ll be fine.” She can see him whenever she wants, she knows, as often as she’s been seeing her sister. But she’s known him so long, practically helped raise him, it really cuts her anyway. 

Hades pulls her close to his side, saying he’d better get her home. “She happy to see him?”

“Yes.”

“Mm. Happy for them.”

She can’t describe how she’s feeling now, as they walk in silence, his arm around her shoulders, but it’s like her heart has grown too big for her chest and she’ll suffocate on it if it doesn’t stop soon. Whatever that’s called, but so,  _ so _ , sad at the same time. She thinks for a second about dropping by Eurydice’s to say hello to them both, but she suspects they’ll be wanting their privacy. She’ll see them when they’re good and ready.

Instead, she stands out on the balcony with her husband and looks out over his sprawling city, nothing like how it used to be. The wall torn down, the shades bright-eyed and aware, some at work and others relaxing in the common spaces lining the streets near where they live. There’s a football game going on. She wonders who’s winning. There are little shops around selling clothes and little trinkets and other things like paint, books, board games; her bar’s tucked away between them all just out of sight from here — closed at this time of day, but later it’ll be open for business and bursting with life.

It’s darker, too, the power turned down to something more gentle, and still warm but not blazing hot. A garden grows in perfect view of where they stand, in full bloom now she’s here. They worked forever on planting that garden and making it grow. She loves it.

It’s there in the garden she sees them, a week or so after he arrived, sitting side-by-side on the ground by a bed of pretty hydrangeas, the sound of his guitar audible even from a little way off. She gets closer and realises they’re both singing, Eurydice’s voice low and cloudy and Orpheus’s airy and high, melody and harmony intertwined like a dance between the two lovers. The way they were supposed to be.

She waves at them both as she approaches. Doesn’t try to say anything, just stands a few feet away and listens. The song is familiar, it’s an old one— not  _ that _ old song, just one that’s been around a few centuries. If she tries, Persephone can remember when it was new. Eurydice stops, making Orpheus fall silent as well.

“Hey, keep going.”

They share a look she can’t read and finish the verse.

“I missed you both. Too busy for me the other day, sister?” she teases, winking.

“I- um.” She has the look of a deer in headlights.

“Hey, it’s okay. Just playin’ with you.”

Orpheus jumps up to face her. She hugs him tight like she’s wanted to for years and years.

“So many things I wanted to tell you, brother.”

“I’m sorry, Persephone.”

“It’s okay now. It’s over, nothing to be done.”

“Thank you for taking care of her.”

“Always.” She wants to tell Eurydice that if she had the chance to start over, she’d still have done it, but nobody wants to get that sappy right now. They’re here to catch up, not feel feelings. She just holds out one arm to her, an invitation to join in. She wonders about the life they could’ve had if they’d made it out– a wedding, maybe kids chasing each other around. Being together, most importantly. And if he’d never come to get her in the first place… no point in thinking about that. No way to tell what would happen. Probably wouldn’t still have her marriage, and Eurydice would’ve long since been consumed by the mine and the mill and the sickening coal-filled air. Seems Persephone owes a lot to them— to them both. She’s okay. She’s not just okay, she’s  _ better _ . Happy. Thriving. Credit there that Eurydice will never take, because Seph can’t put it into words or work out how to bring it up. Just writes it between the lines when she tells her  _ I love you _ or  _ I’m proud of you _ or whatever else it is she can say.

She lets go of them both. Gestures at Orpheus’s guitar. “Give us a song then, Poet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well um. uh. there you go. my magnum opus. i really truly hope you enjoyed reading it because i love it dearly. i might go cry now because i worked on it so constantly that i can't comprehend it being done.
> 
> the title is from sunshine by grace petrie. i considered making the lines in the summary the title of the entire work.  
> the title of the work is from instar by nancy kerr. an instar is a phase between moulting in the development of an invertebrate animal; i can only assume she meant it metaphorically like an interstice.
> 
> come find me on instagram @ aghostlywonderland i'm never not thinking about hadestown  
> xx kyla


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